The present invention relates to a highchair and, more particularly, to a highchair having a horizontally adjustable tray and a vertically adjustable seat.
Highchairs which include horizontally adjustable trays in which latching means are provided to position the tray at different horizontal positions, as well as to provide a mechanism for removing the tray from the chair, are well known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,842,331 to Waples discloses a highchair having a tray with side latching mechanisms for engaging the arm portions of a highchair and an adjustment plunger is provided at a center forward edge of the tray for remotely actuating the latches. In this mechanism, the latches may be directly engaged by an operator without manually engaging the adjustment plunger. However, this operation can have the undesirable effect of the linkages 64, 66 causing the adjustment plunger to move outwardly and possibly contact the operator manipulating the latches.
It is also typical for prior art highchairs to have a seat portion which is at a fixed vertical height, which construction proves to be inconvenient when the highchair is used adjacent to a table having a different height from the highchair. Further, any vertical height adjustment structure would require a departure from the common structure used for highchairs in which the seat forms a pivoted part of a parallelogram hinge mechanism for folding the chair, such as is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,105,247 to Saint.
Accordingly, there is a need for a highchair having a horizontally adjustable tray in which side latching members of the tray may be manipulated independently of movement of a central forward latch actuator.
In addition, there is a need for a highchair in which the vertical position of the seat portion of the chair may be adjusted relative to the supporting base for the chair whereby the chair may be used in association with tables having various heights.